NHS: NHS for its entire length in Colorado by
default, because US 50 is.

Scenic & Historic Byways: Santa Fe Trail

Annual Average Daily Traffic (2008):

2600 on US 50-400 at US 385, Granada

2200 on US 50-400 east of Granada

4100 on US 50-400 at 10th St., Holly

1800 on US 50-400 at Kansas border

Notes: US 400 is a Congressional High Priority
Corridor, brought to life in the early 1990s.

Guide:
US 400 starts on US 50 at US 385 in Granada, and follows
US 50 east into Kansas. It
appears that when Kansas got US 400 and extended it into
Colorado, CDOT ended it at the first opportunity available,
which was Granada.

US 400, like I-238, makes roadgeeks reach for the Mylanta.
US 400 is a recent addition to the system, and it does not
fit into the numbering grid in any way whatsoever. Since
it's a three-digit route, it should have a "parent" route,
but it doesn't. Other recent US 4xx additions behave in
a similar way.

History:Basically, it is a route to appease Kansas for not
getting the proposed cross-continental I-66. Commissioned in
1994.

Notes:Plans are afoot by CDOT to widen SH 402 to four lanes
for its entire length. The timeline is unknown to me.

Annual Average Daily Traffic (2008):

15,200 at US 287

12,200 east of CR 9E

12,700 at I-25

Guide:SH 402 starts at US 287, then heads due east on 14th St.
SE to I-25. Along the way it passes the local CDOT shop and
State Patrol office. SH 402 serves as the southern gateway
into Loveland, while most people use US 34 two miles to the
north.

Photo Gallery:

End
SH 402. Good shot of the END marker on SH 402 at
the I-25 underpass. Photo courtesy Chuck Doolittle.

History:Brought into the state system in about 1950. Paved by
1954.

Location: Western SlopeAlignment: Link from SH 340 east of Grand
Junction north to US 6 at Clifton

History:Became a state highway about 1950. Turned back by 1954.

Location: South Western Slope > South Mountains
> San Luis Valley > South Front RangeLength: 310miW End: Utah border on current US 666 northwest of
Dove CreekE End: Jct US 85-87 at WalsenburgNationally: Continued northwest via current US 491
and US 191 to US 50 at Crescent Jct., Utah (465mi)

History:US 450 is the original 1926 US route that went
along current US 160 west from Walsenburg, then northwest on
US 491 to Utah. The routing was different from today in two major areas: Near La Veta, US 450
went southwest into La Veta along current SH 12, then northwest, then
continuing west on the present alignment. Northwest of Cortez also used
to be different, as US 450 went north from
Cortez to Dolores, west to Yellow Jacket, then continued
northwest toward Dove Creek.

Guide:SH 470 forms the southwestern part of Denver's beltway.
It has a 65mph speed limit almost the whole way.

The
northwest end is a partial interchange at US 6 (6th Avenue) in Golden.
There are direct ramps for NB 470 to WB 6 and EB 6 to SB 470. The other
two movements are done at a signal on US 6. From there, SH 470 goes
south 0.9mi, much of it elevated, to I-70. That is also a partial
interchange, with two movements not allowed, WB 70 to WB 470 and EB 470
to EB 70. SH 470 used to have its north end there, so that's
the reason for that. The interchange features a C-D road along
westbound SH 470 to separate traffic going to I-70.

From I-70, SH 470 heads south and southeast via the east
side of the Hogback. It is six lanes wide, paved in
concrete. At the interchange for Morrison Road (SH 8), it
changes from six lanes wide to four. SH 470 then continues
along the east side of the Hogback, and south of Ken Caryl
Avenue it turns to the east. Along the way is a full
cloverleaf at US 285 (Hampden Avenue). East of Wadsworth, SH
470 goes past the north side of Chatfield Reservoir and
crosses over the South Platte River. There, according to
Jack Unitt, SH 470 is actually on Corps of Engineers
property (which built Chatfield) and the state has only a
lease to operate the highway. At the interchange with Santa
Fe Drive (US 85) SH 470 begins climbing up a steep hill out
of the Platte Valley, and then from there on to I-25 it
continually rises and falls over the rolling terrain.

East of Santa Fe Drive SH 470 is in the north part of
Douglas County, and passes by the north edge of Highlands
Ranch. At Quebec Street, SH 470 picks up another lane, and
is six lanes wide from there to I-25. The interchange with
I-25 is a four-level stack interchange. One bad thing about
the interchange is there is no access from SH 470 to County
Line Road. So, if you want to go to Park Meadows Mall or
Inverness, you have to get off at Yosemite Street.

Photo Gallery:

West
or East US 6. The choice drivers make at the
northwest end of SH 470 at Sixth Avenue/US 6. (June
2003)

Northwest
of Morrison. Westbound SH 470 on its six-lane
section northwest of Morrison. The overpass in the
distance is Alameda Parkway. Off to the right you can see
the Centennial Bike Trail and Rooney Road. (June
2003)

History:
SH 470 is the result of the demise of I-470. In the
late 1960s, an I-470 was proposed for the southwest part of
the metro, but due to land use and air quality concerns, it
was scrapped. The federal funding that had been committed to
it was transferred to other transportation projects,
including construction of a "southwest parkway", what would
become SH 470.

A section of what would ultimately become SH 470 was
actually complete way back in 1957, from Platte Canyon Road
(SH 75) east to Santa Fe Drive (US 85). How it was marked, I
don't know. That section included an interchange at Santa Fe
Drive by 1970.

Beginning in 1970, while CDH was trying to figure out
what to do with I-470, they temporarily put an SH 470
along County Line Road from Santa Fe Drive to I-25. At that
time, County Line Road was gravel from University to I-25,
but was paved by 1972. By 1984, CDH was four-laning County
Line Road, from Quebec east to I-25.

The first major portion of the SH 470 freeway to open was
from Santa Fe Drive to I-25, in 1986. In 1989, more opened
from Platte Canyon northwest to Ken Caryl, and from I-70
southeast to US 285. The gap between US 285 and Ken Caryl
was completed in 1991.

The section between I-70 and US 6 opened the last week of
August 2000. Previous to that section opening, coming north
on SH 470 there was absolutely no good way to get to Golden
from it. Backtracking was involved no matter what way you
tried to take. But drivers still could not go from I-70 to westbound SH 470 or from eastbound SH 470 to I-70.

Work to construct additional movements at the I-70/SH 470
interchange took a tragic turn on May 15, 2004. Several nights before,
workers had set a heavy steel girder along side the WB 470 bridge over
I-70, as part of a new C-D road. That Saturday morning, the girder
sagged onto the EB I-70 lanes and a vehicle with a family of three hit
the girder, killing all of them.

The
ramp from EB 470 to WB I-70 opened in February 2005. The loop ramp from
EB I-70 to WB 470 and its necessary C-D road opened April 2006.

A new interchange at Alameda Pkwy opened in June 2008. The
interchange was not put in by CDOT, instead it was funded by Lakewood,
Jefferson County and the Green Tree Metropolitan District.

The full history dealing with the withdrawl of I-470 can be
found on the Denver's 470 Saga
page.

Suggestions:Add a third lane in each direction from I-25 to
Wadsworth Blvd.

History:I-470 is an Interstate highway that was never
built. The short story is that in the late 1960s, an I-470
was proposed for the southwest part of the metro, but due to
land use and air quality concerns, it was scrapped. But,
there were funds set aside for it which had to be dealt with
($175.87M, $158.29M of which was federal). On December 17,
1976, the I-470 Ad Hoc Commission, appointed by Gov. Dick
Lamm, passed a resolution stating

Pursuant to 23 USC 103(e)(4), I-470 should be
withdrawn from the Interstate and Defense Highway System
and its funds be transferred to other transportation
projects.

Build a "parkway" along one of the route alternatives
considered for I-470 (federal share $59.3M).

Make improvements to South Santa Fe Dr. (US 85) at a
cost of $34.4M (federal share $27.5M). Improvements would
include interchanges and eleven railroad grade
separations. However, Santa Fe should not be expanded
past six lanes to encourage public transit.

Make improvements to South Kipling Street at a cost
of $12.8M (federal share $9.6M). Improvements include
expanding Kipling to four lane arterial and extending it
south to the new Parkway.

Transfer the remaining $61.2M in federal funds to
other transportation projects, to be determined through
the Metropolitan Planning Organization (part of Denver
Regional Council of Governments), with concurrence of the
Governor and CDH.

CDH passed a resolution accepting the Ad Hoc Commission's
recommendations on January 20, 1977. The FHWA approved June
23, 1977.

Guide: US 491 just catches the southwestern corner of the
state. From New Mexico, it heads north through the Ute Mountain Ute
Indian Reservation, picking up US 160. Together, US 160-491 head north
on a mostly straight alignment with a
speed limit slowdown at the turnoff to Towaoc, then come into Cortez,
going down Broadway. At Main St. on the west side of town, US 491
continues north, while US 160 turns east through downtown. After
leaving Cortez, US 491 goes northwest on its way to Utah, along the way
through Lewis, Yellow Jacket, Pleasant View, Cahone, and Dove Creek, of
which Dove Creek is the largest.

Photo Gallery:

New Mexico Border. Northbound at the New Mexico border crossing into Colorado. Photo by David Herrera. (October 2011)

Old
US 666, New US 491. A sign on SH 141 advising of
the then-upcoming renumbering. Photo by Steve Riner.
(June 2003)

History:
US 491 was born when the entire length of US 666 was
renumbered in 2003. The change happened as a result of
efforts of New Mexico. Governor Bill Richardson started a
campaign to fix geometric problems with the highway and
widen it, and he launched an effort to change US 666's
number. He piggybacked the effort to renumber it on the
effort to reconstruct it as way to get more exposure for the
campaign. New Mexico officials also said the number scared
off potential tourists, so a number change was seen as an
economic development tool. CDOT polled southwestern Colorado
residents and governments in 1999 about changing the name,
and the only officials to respond, from Dove Creek and
Dolores County, didn't have an opinion on renumbering it.
But CDOT said they wouldn't mind changing the number so they
didn't have to keep replacing stolen signs.

New Mexico, Colorado and Utah submitted the change to
AASHTO in spring 2003, proposing to renumber US 666
to US 393. However, AASHTO did the right thing and rejected that number
since it didn't fit the numbering grid. The states then agreed to 491,
since it connects to US 191 in Utah and one or more states already had
highways numbered 291 and 391. AASHTO made the change official May 31,
2003, and it took affect in Colorado on July 1, 2003.

Guide: US 550 starts south of Durango at the New
Mexico line, and then follows the Animas River north through the
Southern Ute Indian Reservation. It climbs up a ridge above the east
side of the valley for the Animas River, then just south of US 160
makes a sudden,, steep descent down to that highway. US 160 and 550
head northwest on a four-lane highway toward the south side of Durango.
On the south edge of downtown US 160 turns west off US 550 toward
Cortez while US 550 goes north into the main part of town on Camino del
Rio. Camino del Rio just barely skirts the west edge of downtown,
allowing US 550 to bypass the congestion of downtown. At 14th St. US
550 picks up Main Ave. and heads north through Durango on that.

After leaving Durango, US 550 continues north up the Animas River
valley through Trimble, Hermosa, and Rockwood. US 550 then leaves the
Animas River and blazes its own alignment, beginning to climb a steep,
long grade up to Coal Bank Pass. Southbound descending the pass
features one truck runaway ramp. North of Coal Bank's summit US 550 doesn't really descend a whole
lot, instead it jumps up to Molas Pass.

Heading north down Molas Pass US 550 then again picks up the canyon for the Animas River and
hugs the side of it as it drops down to Silverton. US 550 doesn't
really enter Silverton, instead turning northwest away from it at an
intersection on the south side of town. The highway then uses the
canyon for Mineral Creek as it climbs up to Red Mountain Pass. It is
one of the passes in Colorado most likely to be closed in winter due to
storm and avalanche conditions. Just to the north side of Red Mountain
Pass is the Red Mountain Mining Area, a mining boom town from the late
1800s. An overlook provides signs with historical info and gives a view
of the structures.

From Red Mountain Pass US 550 uses Red Mountain Creek for a
while, briefly passing through an alpine meadow valley. Between there
and Ouray, US 550 goes through the Uncompahgre Gorge, where it hugs the east side canyon wall, passing through a
snowshed (avalanche protection) and hard rock tunnel. The highway then
goes through Ouray on 3rd St., and follows the Uncompahgre River
northwest. US 550 follows the Umcompahgre all the way to Montrose,
passing through Ridgway and Colona along the way. In Montrose, US 550 comes into
town on Townsend Ave., and at the intersection with San Juan Ave north of downtown ends at US
50.

Photo Gallery:

US 160-550 Markers. A marker assembly on southbound US 550 approaching US 160 on the south side of Durango. (July 2005)

Main Ave at 15th St.Northbound US 550 on Main Ave in north Durango at 15th St. Just ahead is the bridge over the Las Animas River. (September 2011)

Runaway Truck Ramp. A runaway truck ramp on southbound US 550 at Milepost 52, on the descent from Coal Bank Pass. (July 2005)

Engineer Mountain.
A view looking along southbound US 550 as is goes down the south side
of Coal Bank Pass. The peak in the distance is Engineer Mountain, which
dominates the skyline in this area. (July 2005)

Molas Pass Summit Marker • Northbound View.
Two shots at the rest area at the summit of Molas Pass. One is the
marker sign, the other looking northerly across the Molas Park alpine
meadown. (September 2011)

Silverton Overlook.
A pullout on US 550 just south of Silverton that affords a great view
of the town below, visble behind the bikers. (September 2011)

CR 110-2 Silverton Turnoff. Northbound US 550 where it curves left, or you can go straight and end up on Silverton's main drag. (September 2011)

North Red Mountain Switchbacks.
A shot of a convoy of bikers navigating a pair of switchbacks on Red
Mountain Pass' north side. Reminds me of an asphalt snake. (September
2011)

Snowshed.
Here US 550 passes through a snowshed, a structure that provides
avalanche protection in the winter. When this picture was taken there
was still snowmelt going on, because an active stream was flowing over
the top of the snowshed. (July 2005)

Uncompahgre Gorge.
US 550's most notable section, south of Ouray where the road has been
blasted into the mountainside about 200' above the Uncompahgre River.
(September 2011)

Hard Rock Tunnel. An unlined hard rock tunnel, as viewed on southbound US 550 a couple miles south of Ouray. (July 2005)

Ouray. A good view of Ouray, looking north on US 550 as it passes through town. (July 2005)

North of Ouray.
Southbound US 550 at Milepost 98, a few miles north of Ouray, as the
canyon for the Uncompahgre River begins to rapidly narrow. (July 2005)

Milepost 116. Southbound US 550 south of the Montrose/Ouray County line, with the San Juan Mountains looming on the horizon. (July 2005)

History: US 550 is an original 1926 US highway in
Colorado, but originally only went from Montrose to Durango. It was
extended south to New Mexico in 1935. Also, the north end in Montrose
originally used Chipeta Road north then east into town on current SH
90. It was moved to its current alignment heading south out of town
about 1936.

By 1938 the only unpaved portion was
from Rockwood to Ouray. By 1954 the only sections not paved
were over Molas Divide and Red Mountain Pass. Red Mountain
Pass was paved by 1955 and Molas Divide by 1957. The Durango
southwest bypass opened by 1982.

US 550 follows the so-called Million Dollar Highway
between Silverton and Ouray. It was first built as a toll
road by Otto Mears. In the first year of construction, 1882,
he managed to get the first 8.5mi at a cost of $40,000/mile.
He had to contend with sheer rock walls over 1,000 feet
high, and had to blast a shelf for the road into that rock.
He placed a toll booth at Bear Creek Falls. In 1882-83, he
extended the road further south, following Red Mountain
Creek, over Red Mountain Pass, and down Mineral Creek to
Silverton.

The state took over the Million Dollar Highway in the
1920s, and spent over $550,000 for improvements during the
1920s and 30s. The Bureau of Public Roads had already paid
out a considerable amount of money for forest highway funds.
The urban legend is that it is called the Million Dollar
Highway because when the state resurfaced it, gravel was
used that had gold in it. There is no proof of this.

In May 2010 the US 50 reroute onto San Juan Ave in Montrose
took place. Previously US 50 came south on Townsend Ave and east on
Main St, meaning that intersection was a turn in US 50 as well as the
end for US 550 and SH 90. CDOT moved US 50 onto San Juan around the
northeast side of downtown and turned back Main St east of Townsend to
the city, and extended US 550 from Main up to San Juan to meet US 50.

US 560
is a number that was proposed when the US Highway system was being
developed in 1926, but it didn't make the cut when the system was
implemented in 1927. Due to US 60 being changed to US 66 in the final plan, US 560 was renumbered to US 666. See US 666 below and US 491 above for more.

Location: Central MountainsLength: 23miS End: Jct US 50 at in SalidaN End: Jct US 40S at current US 24-285
intersection south of Buena Vista

History:US 650 was commissioned in 1928 along the route
of what is now SH 291 and
US 285 from Salida to
Buena Vista. The route due north from Poncha Springs was not
built until the 1940s, so previously one had to use current
SH 291 northward from Salida. US 650 was
decommissioned in 1935 in favor of a new US 285 coming south
from Denver.

Roadway Names: Devil's Highway. Yes, it's actually
been referred to as such in the media.

History:
In the first 1926 US Highway plan, what is now US 491 from
New Mexico to Cortez was numbered US 560, and from
Cortez to Utah was numbered US 450. But by the time the plan was implemented in 1927 US
560 was renumbered to US 666, and by 1934 US
450 had been deleted and taken over by an extended US
160. US 666 was paved by 1939. US 666 had its
north end at Cortez all the way up to the end of 1970, when
US 160 was shifted to its current route and US 666
was extended northwest to Utah. US 666 was renumbered
in its entirety to US 491 in summer 2003 as a result of New
Mexico campaigning to improve conditions of the highway and
its image.

History:SH 789 is the former Canada-Mexico Highway, a
highway numbered 789 from Mexico to Canada via the Rocky
Mountain region. It was created in 1954 as kind of a
pre-Interstate NAFTA highway. At first, no one knew what the
deal was with Highway 789 in Wyoming (the only remaining
portion of it), but eventually people figured out that at
one time it had gone from Mexico to Canada but no one knew
the reason. Then, in early 1998 I ran into this paragraph in
The High Road by Marion Wiley:

...There was also a route from Dallas to
Canada via Denver called the D.C.D. This followed the
Great North and South Highway through Colorado, but
reports indicate interest in this road lagged somewhat by
the time it reached Montana. Years later, interest in a
continuous north and south route was rekindled. A
concerted drive resulted in signing U.S. 789 (now
Colorado 789) which runs through far Western Colorado.
This route was originally promoted as a Canada-to-Mexico
Highway, running from Nogales, Arizona, to Sweet Grass,
Montana.

(Keep in mind it was written in 1976). "Eureka!" was my
reaction. I should note that no one has ever found any
evidence that Multi-State 789 was marked as a US Highway, so
this is probably an error on Mr. Wiley's part.

When first marked in 1955, SH 789 went from the
New Mexico border south of Durango north on US 550,
northwest on US 50, east on US 6-24 (later I-70), and north
on SH 13 to Wyoming. By 1959 it was rerouted so it went from
Durango west to Cortez, then entered New Mexico via US
666. (Old 789 marker photo at right from Lary Brown)

When was Multi-State 789 done away with? CDH maps show it
up until at least 1984, then gone after that. However, this
is only Colorado. As to what other states did about it, I
only know of Wyoming, who kept it, because they numbered
several sections of highway as WY 789 exclusively, rather
then running the number concurrently with whatever the
normal designation of the highway was, like Colorado did.

This is an excerpt of the legend from the 1974 official CDH
map. SH 789 got this special mention on the CDH map
legends on all of the maps from the '70s up until SH
789 disappeared after 1984.